SoftBank-Backed On-Demand Physical Storage Startup Clutter Hits $600M Valuation

After its Vision Fund has invested in companies such as WeWork, Compass and Opendoor, SoftBank said on Wednesday (February 20) that it led a funding round for storage service firm Clutter. With a $200 million boost, the startup is said to have a post-investment value of $600 million, CNBC reported.

With the investment, the Vision Fund’s Justin Wilson is becoming a part of the company’s board. And Clutter Co-founder and CEO Ari Mir said the investment would help the firm expand in markets that it is already in – such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco – and come to new cities such as Philadelphia. It would also help the company grow its technology and infrastructure investment.

Wilson told the outlet that Clutter is a “novel model” that is competing in a storage market that consists of mainly mostly “just boxes.” With traditional storage facilities, Wilson told the outlet “You have to struggle to find a dolly, beg friends and family. The consumer experience is pretty poor.” Through Clutter, however, the service enables customers to reserve space through the internet. Their items are then picked up and brought back when the customer wants them.

The news comes after it was reported in late January that Clutter was raising between $200 million and $250 million in a Soft-bank-led funding round. In 2017, Clutter had a big financing round when it received $64 million from Fifth Wall, Sequoia, GV and Atomico. At the time, it was reported that the round could bring between $400 and $500 million valuation to the company.

It was also reported that the service is available in New York, Seattle, Chicago, Southern California and the Bay Area. The on-demand storage market is a competitive market: Other competitors in the space include MakeSpace, Trove, Omni, Closetbox and Livible. Clutter also faces older rivals such as PODS and U-Haul. And, overall, the industry is estimated to be worth approximately $40 billion a year.